A bride has been left "heartbroken" after her fiancé died the day before their wedding day.

Jacqueline Shepherd, 46, and her partner, David Gorgeous, 45, decided they wanted to get married during the last weeks of his life as he battled terminal gallbladder cancer.  

David was diagnosed with the disease in March 2024 after a mass was discovered in his gallbladder.

He had two operations to remove his gallbladder, part of his liver, and some lymph nodes - and began preventative chemotherapy in September 2024.

The dad-of-one initially responded well and was able to return to work as a fragrance brand ambassador, but things worsened in December 2024 when he began feeling discomfort in his abdomen again.

A CT scan revealed the cancer cells had spread to the peritoneum - a membrane that lines the abdominal cavity and covers the abdominal organs.

Despite being moved to active chemotherapy, doctors made the decision to stop treatment because of the damage it was doing to his liver and how advanced the disease was.

The couple decided to tie the knot on April 3rd and planned their wedding just the day before with the help of hospital staff and family and friends.

Jacqueline was going to wear a floral wedding dress and the couple had also planned exchange rings too. 

But just 24 hours before they were due to wed on the ward at Lister Hospital, Stevenage, on April 2, David passed away - leaving Jacqueline and their daughter, Elodie-Grace, two, devastated.

Jacqueline, a radio presenter, from Letchworth, said: "Before we went to the hospital, he had asked for my dad's permission to marry me, and we thought we had more time, so we got engaged. 

"The palliative care team encouraged us to get our marriage license so we could get married.

"I got the marriage license the day that he died, and we planned to get married the next day at the hospital.

"It breaks my heart.

"But that final week of his life, knowing we were getting married, gave us something to look forward to.

"I think it brought him a sense of peace and helped him to relax.

"But I am absolutely broken. 

"We have the funeral next week, and I've been focusing on that. 

"It's a lot to do so I haven't had any time to process it all - I'm quite anxious about what happens after the funeral."

David was initially treated for Hodgkin's lymphoma 10 years ago and, although he made a full recovery, he continued to be monitored for his health.

During a routine check up, doctors became concerned about his liver after abnormal readings, as well as his digestive problems and persistent abdominal pain.

A CT scan revealed a mass in his gallbladder.

Jacqueline said: "It was spotted early.

"He had the first op in April 2024 and the second in May. 

"He started chemo in September, and he was feeling better, much brighter, and feeling good.

"We were looking forward to this year because, as far as we were concerned, he was going to be done with the preventative chemo in February.

"So it was a real blow when he started feeling unwell again at the end of the year - it was called a recurrence."

In December 2024, David began noticing some pain in his abdomen again and questioned whether it was a fluid build up.

Jacqueline said: "When his gallbladder was removed, there was a bit of fluid buildup from where the gallbladder wasn't there anymore.

"It felt familiar.

"He went into hospital, and they identified the fluid build up, and he had that drained. 

"When he was there, they ran a CT scan, and we knew there was a possibility of recurrence.

"The CT scan identified that there were cancer cells in his peritoneum - that can be quite a common secondary cancer.

"It was then decided that he'd have active chemo to try and reverse that."

But the chemotherapy was having an adverse effect on David's liver and a decision was made to stop.

Jacqueline said: "In March, they said they couldn't continue.

"We were given that awful, horrendous news. 

"We absorbed all of that info and decided we wanted a second opinion. 

"We were waiting to hear back from a couple of other specialist hospitals, but unfortunately, his health deteriorated, and he needed to go back into hospital around the same time we launched the fundraiser to ease the burden and set up something for our daughter. 

"Another doctor said if David could get well enough, he'd be willing to give the chemo another go.

"But he couldn't, it had advanced too much and we couldn't get him to a place where that could be an option for us.

"He wasn't in a coma and he was always present and always able to talk to me until he died.

"The hospital had organised a cake, flowers, and they were going to decorate the room.

"I was planning on wearing a pretty floral dress to mark the occasion and my dad had organised the rings.

"We had also planned for our families to come up - allowing it to be intimate and beautiful.

"He was delighted with how well the fundraiser was doing, and he loved being able to read all the lovely comments from people.

"They talked about how generous he had been and how he'd been such a positive influence in their lives.

"The amount of love that has come our way from so many different walks of life.

"He was incredible individual."

You can support the fundraiser for Jacqueline and her family here - https://www.gofundme.com/f/mr-gorgeous-gorgeous-girls